Ed Note; This article previously appeared in the Society Of American
Bayonet Collectors Journal.

July 2011

Johnson "Dagger" Bayonet

"Unknown European Bayo Lot 432" is what the tag read. It was
thrown into a lot of miscellaneous bayonets in a March 2009 auction of items
from the collection of the late Bruce Stern. Fortunately for me most people
who saw it probably did not know what this unusual bayonet was. My good friend
and fellow SABC member Stan Tranquillo brought it to my attention.

I donít know if one would classify this as a prototype, experimental or
simply a pre-production bayonet, but it is one of the first bayonets made for
the Johnson automatic rifle. What little information I was able to find on
this bayonet came from Bruce Canfieldís wonderful book Johnsonís Rifles
and Machine Guns.

Attorney and firearms enthusiast Melvin Maynard Johnson developed his
design for a new automatic rifle in early 1937. This was around the same time
that the U.S. Army was testing the M1 Garand rifle. Johnson contracted Marlin
Firearms to fabricate two rifles based on his design with the first being
completed in March, 1938, followed shortly thereafter by a few more. These
rifles were presented to the U.S. Army Ordnance Department at Aberdeen,
Maryland for testing in March, 1938. In May of that year Marlin informed
Johnson that they would not be able to do any more work on his weapons. Marlin
felt that their engineering staff had taken the design as far as economically
feasible. 1

With Marlin out of the picture, Johnson approached the engineering firm of
Taft-Peirce in Woonsocket, Rhode Island to refine his design. Taft-Peirce
developed full blueprints including specifications for all tools, fixtures,
jigs and gauges necessary to produce each part. To verify accuracy of the
prints they then built three rifles by hand. Johnson continued to pursue the
U.S. Army and in June, 1938 demonstrated the original rifles made by Marlin at
Fort Benning.2

Johnson decided in the Fall of 1938 that to have a sufficient number of
rifles available for evaluation and testing, Taft-Peirce would be commissioned
to manufacture 14 more rifles, seven in a military model and seven commercial
models. At least one of the military rifles was equipped with a full length
stock and set up to take a standard bayonet (1892 Krag or 1905 Springfield).
The weight of the bayonet proved to be a problem with the rifleís recoiling
barrel, interfering with the proper functioning of the mechanism. This rifle
was mainly fabricated to satisfy the U.S. Armyís requirement of the rifle
being able to mount a bayonet. 3

In March 1939 while demonstrating his rifle in England, the new British No
4 Mk I bayonet caught Johnsonís interest. The bayonet was light and could be
manufactured quickly and cheaply. This basic simple and lightweight bayonet
concept would later be utilized in the standard bayonet made for the
production rifle. 4

During the fall of 1939 Taft-Peirce continued to produce very limited
numbers of Johnson rifles. Most of these were military rifles with various
types of bayonet attachments. Some were fitted with "dagger"
bayonets and at least one rifle that had an impressive wicked-looking sword
bayonet attached beneath the barrel. This bayonet was not mounted directly on
the barrel in the standard manner so the barrel was free to recoil without
interference from the added weight of the heavy sword bayonet. 5

The dagger bayonet pictured with this article is very well made and is
completely machined. It appears that time was spent to provide smooth contours
and edges. The Taft-Peirce rifles had two mounting blocks or studs for the
bayonet at the muzzle end of the barrel. The bayonet would be mounted on the
larger rear block and then slid forward, latching on the forward stud mounted
directly beneath the front site. This bayonet does not have a muzzle ring like
the standard issue bayonet. The bayonet that was used with the production
rifle turned out to be much different from the original dagger or sword
bayonets.

The dagger bayonet has a contoured two-piece wood grip, secured by two
button head machine screws and hex nuts. These standard hardware store
fasteners contrast greatly from the overall high quality machine work seen on
this piece. The press stud is located at the right front side of the hilt and
there is a flat leaf spring on the opposite side. The one-piece hilt and blade
has a deep gun blue finish.

The leather scabbard is identical to that used for the standard issue
bayonet. It is not know if this is original to the dagger bayonet or was added
at a later date.